The present invention relates to motion chairs and particularly to a recliner chair of the type in which the mechanism carries the upholstered seat and arm frame, together with the upholstered chair back forwards relative to the chair base as the chair back is reclined, so that the chair need not be positioned far from a wall, or bodily displaced outwards from a wall, so that when the user wishes to recline, the upper end of the chair back, in reclining, will not intersect the wall.
The mechanism for the chair of the present invention is presently known by the assignee as the Action 3300 Wall Saver mechanism. Although this mechanism, having 24 links per side, has two more links per side than the mechanism it replaces at Action Industries, Inc., it easily provides four inches or more of additional forward travel upon reclining, provides greater smoothness of operation, and permits a wider latitude of design possibilities, so far as the finished, upholstered chair is concerned.
Two prior U.S. patents known to the present inventor show chairs having mechanisms which bear some similarity to the mechanism of the present invention:
Rogers, U.S. Pat. No. 4,350,387, issued Sept. 21, 1982 discloses a driving linkage which includes link 84 which drives back to link 82, which drives link 87, which drives the ottoman link 62. This mechanism further includes a lock in which the link 92 works in combination with the link 10, through pivots 89 and 94. In the mechanism which is disclosed in this reference, the ottoman cannot be thrust and retracted independently of reclining the chair back.
Rogers U.S. Pat. No. 4,531,778, issued July 30, 1985 discloses a mechanism in which, similarly to the present invention, the ottoman can be thrust and retracted separately from reclining the chair back. In this Rogers mechanism, the ottoman drive link 100 is hooked onto link 56, which works up front on pivot 101. The handle lock linkage, which maintains the linkage closed is shown in the Rogers patent at 154,152. The mechanism would function without the lock, but would not stay closed as reliably without it. In mechanisms of this type, which use wheels rolling in tracks, if all is going well, the support is superior, and the glide gives a very smooth and reassuring feeling. However, if and when lint, a staple, a wood flake or a similar obstruction gets into the track, the wheel or wheels encounter it and produce a bumpy, jarring ride, and the mechanism can be prevented from operating properly.